


you are blazing

by templemarker



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 09:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5579653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/templemarker/pseuds/templemarker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The alert informed him that he should check in for his flight, twenty-four hours from now. Brandon had suppressed a sigh, tossing the phone back on the nightstand and running his fingers through Andy's hair, staring at the ceiling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you are blazing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Firalla11](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firalla11/gifts).



> Happy holidays, Firalla11! You had so many lovely ideas, and I hope I adapted one well for this story. 
> 
> This story takes place in the Year of Our NHL Commissioner 2015.

Brandon Bollig **@Bollig87** Sep 10 2015  
_Chi-town to Cow-town. Excited for the upcoming season in Calgary. #CofRed_

-}{-

He had to take the selfie a couple of times, finally just covering his mouth with his passport because his smile looked like someone had kicked him in the nads. He wasn't upset that he was heading back to Calgary for the pre-season; things had worked out okay over the summer, after the best season the Flames had seen in years. It felt right to be back at the playoffs, even with different guys on different ice. Brandon couldn't even get that worked up about losing to the Ducks--the front office was ecstatic, welcoming everyone back with a low-key party to congratulate them on their season. It seemed to be proof that the rebuilding was working, and Treliving made a point of taking him aside and acknowledging Brandon's part in taking them there. 

But heading back to Chicago was like scrubbing away at a bone bruise--his skin looked clear but there was pain on touch. The familiar skyline and the Sears tower made his heart clench. 

A lot of people dispersed for the summer, like everywhere in the league. But Shawzy was there, and while they hadn't talked about it they both knew where Brandon would be sleeping while he was in town. 

They had two weeks before training camp started up, but the days went by so fast. An alert on his phone woke him up, Andy's weight on his chest making it hard to breathe until he could shift slightly to free his lungs. Andy didn't even respond, dead to the world like he always was. At least when they were in bed together. 

The alert informed him that he should check in for his flight, twenty-four hours from now. Brandon had suppressed a sigh, tossing the phone back on the nightstand and running his fingers through Andy's hair, staring at the ceiling. 

And now here he was, slumped at the bar of the United Club, trying to update his social media because PR had sent him a pretty insistent email about contributing to the pre-season hype. Trying to take a picture that didn't look like he'd left his boyfriend definitely not crying in the parking garage at Departures.

-}{-

Andrew Shaw **@shawz15er** Jun 30 2015  
 _Wishing a good teammate friend and great roommate the best of luck with his new team u will be missed buddy **@BSaad20**_

-}{-

Andy was lounging outside at his uncle's pool, frowning at how creepily white his toes were int he summer sun and chewing on the edge of his phone case. Which was disgusting, he kept trying not to do it but totally failed. 

The kids were running around, cousins and nephews, nieces and bonus kids. The grill smelled great, Andy's uncle and dad arguing the merits of wet versus dry ribs again the way they did every year. His mom had brought him a beer, kissed his head, and reminded him that he needed to help with the food once it was time to eat. Otherwise everyone pretty much left him alone, which was nice, because he didn't really feel like talking for once. 

His second cup day was coming up--he'd been following the stories the guys had been sharing on their Snapchat thread, babies and group photos and some very questionable mouth action on silver that had generated a cascade of replies. His own cup day was next week, and he didn't have any specific plans for it. It was still exciting, maybe even more so the second time around because he was definitely sure he wasn't going to break it. Or crush it. Or dent it. 

There was a pall over it though, hearing about Saader's trade. That shit fucking hurt. They all knew about trade risk, most of them had experienced it or knew the story by heart from lineys and teammates. But this one came out of nowhere--not even Tazer, who kept a pretty close line to Bowman, Q, and the front office, had been aware that Saader was even on the table, much less one for four new guys and a pick. More cap space bullshit, bullshit in general since Saader was part of them _win the fucking cup_ they were about to celebrate. 

He looked at his phone again; still no reply from Brandon. Brandon his boyfriend, not Saader. Saader wasn't really responding to texts or Snapchat right now, which wasn't surprising. 

Brandon was supposed to come down to Belleville for Andy's cup day, just a short trip before he was back in Missouri for his cousin's birthday. Summers were always weird, and hard, even when they were playing on the same team. They didn't even really get _together_ together until last summer, going through all this trade bullshit again and the stress of it making everything seem more real, more urgent. Long-distance sucked, especially with their jobs. They'd seen each other maybe four times over the season. And even with Brandon coming to Chicago to watch the rest of the playoffs and their second Stanley Cup win, everything was so crazy they basically were only alone when they crashed, exhausted, at Andy's apartment at night. 

Andy looked again; still no notification. He sighed, sipped at his beer. Fuck. 

Cup day was going to be fun, though. Brandon would be there, the family had planned a whole thing by the lake. Even though Alex was going to be busy at some wedding, she'd promised to stop by after the party. He frowned. Wasn't the wedding also taking place at the lake?

Suddenly Andy broke into a smile. Yeah, fuck yeah. That would be awesome. "Hey Alex!" he called across the pool, and she turned around to swim towards him when he waved her over.

-}{-

Brandon Bollig **@Bollig87** Feb 2 2015  
 _Raise awareness, end the stigma and help those struggling with mental illness today by keeping the conversation going. #HockeyTalks_

-}{-

"Fuck, babe," Brandon said tiredly, rubbing at his face with his hands. On the screen Andy didn't look much better, his face getting thin from all the endurance and his head propped up by his hand to hold it up. Mostly. 

"Yeah," Andy said, exhaustion in his voice. At least Brandon was at home; Andy was on a roadie fresh off a loss to the Sharks. Brandon definitely didn't want to talk about his goal, the first of the season, or the Flames' win. They had agreed upfront, last summer when they decided this thing, that their Facetimes would be about them first, hockey second. It was hard sometimes but they'd stuck with it, and Brandon thought they were better off for it. 

"How's the anxiety?" Andy asked, leaning back and running a hand through his hair. "Are you feeling better after tonight?"

Brandon let a grin slip across his face swiftly, and let out a short laugh. "Yeah," he said. "Workplace achievement. Now I can chill for a minute about the boss being on my ass about production."

Andy grinned, his mustache making him look like an extra from _Dazed and Confused_. "I knew you could do it," he said confidently. "It just takes time to gel with a new team, a new system. Figure out where you play in that." 

"Yeah, babe," Brandon said, a little amused. Andy had been giving him some version of the same pep talk since Brandon's trade was announced, on fucking draft-day no less. He's been yo-yoing since then between freaking out and getting low--no picnic to be around, not for himself and definitely not for Andy. But Andy just took it in stride, asking him gentle questions and distracting him when he needed it. Talking with him when he was thinking about asking his doc to up his meds, making it less scary and more benign. 

"My therapy call is tomorrow, too, so I'll text you when I'm out," Brandon continued. "Did you get the email about the delivery service? I have it set up so that there'll be a freezer box waiting for you when you get it. I already talked to Guillermo about it, he'll have it at the security desk. All you have to do is shove one in the microwave, the rest in the freezer, and you should be good to go."

"I am disturbed by the relationship you've developed with my doorman," Andy teased, but Brandon knew he loved this, loved that Brandon took care of him even when they were so far apart. 

They fell silent, companionable, just looking at each other. For a moment it felt like last year, tired and sore from a game, ready to crash but not quite ready to stop either. 

"I miss you," Andy says. 

"I miss you too," Brandon says. The fuck of it is that there really isn't anything more to say about it than that.

-}{-

Andrew Shaw **@shawz15er** 18 Dec 2014  
 _I'll save you a seat at the #WinterClassic!_

-}{-

"How the fuck did you get here?" Andy shouts, tired and cold and so freakin' happy. 

Brandon grinned, brushing some snow off Andy's shoulder. "Caught the last flight out of Calgary International headed east, right after the game. I was a little late, but Bowman brought me up to the suite right before puck drop. Hell of a close game, kid."

"Fuck you, old-timer," Andy said back reflexively and brought Brandon in for a hug again. He nestled in as close to Brandon's ear as he could get between coat collar, scarf, and hat, and said, "If we weren't in the middle of a million hockey fans and my family weren't right over there being nosy I would fucking kiss you until you swooned."

Brandon laughed. It sounded so much better against Andy's skin than over the iPad. "Sweet-talker," he said affectionately, and they parted but stayed close. 

"Shit, I can't believe you're here," Andy said again. 

"I actually have a couple of days," Brandon said mildly. Andy choked by a yell. "I already told Gelinas that I'd be missing optional skate, and I have to be back by the afternoon before the next game, but it's a little time."

"Babe," Andy said, floored that Brandon would suffer through nearly twenty hours of cross-country flying just to see him play, just to spend those couple of days with him. 

Brandon smiled. "Yeah, Shawzy?"

Andy bit at his lip. "I love you."

Brandon's smile grew, until it lit up his face. "I know," he said, and then the Shaws clearly couldn't wait any longer and overwhelmed them both with questions and hugs.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. All these tweets are taken from [Bollig](https://twitter.com/Bollig87) and [Shaw's](https://twitter.com/shawz15er) official twitter accounts. I'm not linking directly to the tweets for potential trackbacking reasons, but they are both interesting and amusing fellas. 
> 
> 2\. Bollig was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks on 2014 Draft Day, June 27-28. (yes, that is two days, we'll pretend.) It was very surprising--there had been no indication that Bollig was even on the table, much less a draft day trade piece. (In sum: draft day trades are fast and furious and very last minute, often during the draft claims, as management teams try desperately to score good potential future players, secure their farm team, and scoop up the few kids that will make it to the Show straight out of the draft.) In particular, it was surprising because Bollig had just come off a Stanley Cup winning season, and among the pundits it was figured that Chicago was going to make an effort to try and keep the roster going for another shot. But the Hawks, who were in a terrible draft position generally because they were so high in points in the league, wanted Matheson Iacopelli, who is a top scorer and points-maker in the junior hockey league USHL; in 2014 he set a new league record, making 27 goals in a single season. It also freed a cool $1.5m USD average annual salary in cap space, giving the Hawks some room to maneuver with their top players coming into the latter, more expensive part of their contracts. Bollig, bless his pulled-up socks, went from the #1 team in the League to the Calgary Flames who, at the time of the trade, were #4 lowest in the League (above Buffalo, Florida, and Edmonton) and second to last in their conference. He was remarkably diplomatic for the shitty hand he got dealt. 
> 
> 3\. In another fun Bowman trade, a year later Brandon Saad, _also_ a key part of bring the Hawks both the 2014 and 2015 Stanley Cup wins, was traded on, again, 2015 Draft Day, June 26-27, to the St Louis Blues. Saad was a pending restricted free agent (if you don't know what that means, please don't google, it just makes it worse), coming off two Cup wins at the end of his contract. Knowing that Saad was in an excellent position to re-negotiate his contract for a substantially higher amount, the Hawks traded him for a fourth round '16 pick, three cheap linefillers and an expensive centre in Artem Anisimov, who is a fine enough second or third line center, but was thirty points behind Saad in the 2014-15 year. He ended up being $14m USD cheaper, though, so I guess that's all that matters. The trade was generally surprising, despite the circumstances: Saader was asking for a six-year cumulative $39m USD contract, and the Hawks not only did not have the cap room, they knew they were going to have to trade off some core players in addition to solid ones. Saad publicly said he would take less cash if he could stay with the Blackhawks, but either his agent decided to ignore him or Bowman lost his hearing. Saad ended up with a six-year cumulative $36m USD contract with the Blues, and the Hawks players were publicly bummed about it.
> 
> 4\. In more cheerful post-scripts, Andy Shaw [did actually spend his day with the Stanley Cup crashing a wedding](http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/25235292/blackhawks-andrew-shaw-crashed-wedding-with-the-stanley-cup). The bride was thrilled. Shaw's sister was a bridesmaid, and his Cup Day party was held on the same location as the wedding, so it was apparently quite convenient. [Philip Pritchard](https://twitter.com/keeperofthecup), the rather pale white guy (who is, unsurprisingly, Canadian) with [white gloves glued to his hands](http://mentalfloss.com/article/57192/qa-philip-pritchard-keeper-stanley-cup) (he appears in [nearly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlzCZ6kfVbw) [every](http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7y1o/2015-honda-fit-biker-fortune-cup-meerkat) [Stanley Cup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JKn36U1un4) commercial) tweeted the event of the bride, Shaw, and the Cup. I would probably take the Cup over a dope wedding ring, although I would take a Stanley Cup ring over both of them. 
> 
> 5\. This is the photo from the first tweet in the story. At least in September 2015 he was going back to a team that had actually made the playoffs for the first time in five years. Bonus: excellent eyebrow action going on there.
> 
>  


End file.
